The Warriors, El Crimen del Padre Amaro, El Callejón de Los Milagros

Lisa Franek
Program Associate, Media Arts Center San Diego

Since we’re showing Carlos Saura’s latest film Io, Don Giovanni, at the SDLFF, I was inspired to revisit one of his earlier films, Goya in Bordeaux. With all the richness of Goya’s painting and the politics of 18th Century Spain, it’s both tense and romantic. It’s such a visually stunning film that I never tire of it.

Then, after watching hundreds of subtitled movies, I’m taking it easy with an old favorite, Walter Hill’s The Warriors. This urban western is always fun and recharges my movie-watching batteries. It’s the story of a Coney Island gang trying to make their way back to their home turf from the Bronx while other gangs try to jump them. Visually fun, interesting story, and no shortage of 1970s slang. “Can you dig it?”

The Warriors (USA) 1979, Paramount
List price: $12.98

Goya in Bordeaux (Spain) 1999, Sony Pictures
List price: $24.98

Ethan van Thillo
Founder and executive director, Media Arts Center San Diego and San Diego Latino Film Festival

As we gear up for our 17th Annual San Diego Latino Film Festival this month, I am excited to bring acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Carlos Carrera back to San Diego with his new film Traspatio/Backyard (Mexico’s official submission for the 2010 Oscars). The film stars Ana de la Reguera and Jimmy Smits and spotlights the continued struggles taking place in Juarez, Mexico. To prepare for this, check out Carlos Carrera’s Oscar nominated El Crimen del Padre Amaro with Gael Garcia Bernal and Ana Claudia Talancon.

On Netflix you can also get Mr. Carrera’s earlier work, the sexy black comedy Mi Vida Conyugal. The story concerns a young couple whose marriage is disrupted by the husband’s infidelity. So the wife decides to plot his murder.

El Crimen del Padre Amaro (Mexico) 2002, Sony Pictures
List price: $19.94

Mi Vida Conyugal (Mexico) 1993, Fondo de Fomento a la Calidad Cinematográfica
List price: Available on Netflix

Patric Stillman
Innovations and programming officer, Media Arts Center San Diego

After months of consuming contemporary cinema from around the globe, I enjoy taking a break right before the Latino Film Festival to seek out international gems from the vault. My first pick is El Callejón de Los Milagros (Miracle Alley) with Salma Hayek. The ’90s tragic drama, based on the Nobel Prize–winning novel Midaq Alley, won 49 awards, making it the country’s most acclaimed film.

My second find was created a decade earlier, when Argentina gave us the thriller The Official Story, which explored a mother’s struggle coming to terms that her adopted child may be a victim of the “disappearances” that occurred during the ’70s’ “dirty war.” This film is the only Latin American film to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture.

El Callejón de Los Milagros (Miracle Alley) (Mexico) 1995, Venevision
List price: $24.95

La Historia Oficial (The Official Story) (Argentina) 1985, Koch Lorber Films
List price: $24.98